Robert Abele

The anime feature “Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance” is the continuation of a projected quartet that re-imagines (and condenses) an influential mid-’90s Japanese TV series called “Neon Genesis Evangelion.” To recap the apocalypse as intriguingly conceived by animator Hideaki Anno, the world is beset by catastrophically destructive behemoths called Angels, and only moody teens neurally plugged into giant combat robots called Evas can save humanity. It was the best of times, it was the end of times, in other words, since this nerd soap delivers plenty of orgiastically designed battle sequences, futuristic fortress-themed visuals (cool retractable buildings, Tokyo!) and a deep empathy with the confusion and alienation in its adolescent heroes, who are led by Shinji — who seeks praise from his taciturn father — and silver-haired, quiet-voiced loner hottie Rei… THERE’S MORE, READ THE REST. — Robert Abele […]

The Los Angeles Times review of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was written by Robert Abele, here’s an excerpt… Now comes the return of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” thanks in part to producer Michael Bay, who, when he’s not frightening movie snobs as a director, has made something of a profitable side job resurrecting scare brands — “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Amityville Horror,” “Friday the 13th” — from the pop-culture graveyard. This time around he’s coaxed back the estimably creepy Freddy Krueger from our bloody memories, but it’s hardly what you’d call a dream reunion. The first “Nightmare” was the brainchild of horrormeister Wes Craven, who looked to embolden the slasher era with a child killer let loose during sleepy time: Reality-bending imagery added to the usual rip-and-bleed gore craft. Although the fedora-sporting, finger-knived Freddy (iconically rendered […]